When is the next full moon and what does it have to do with Easter? What to know
If you enjoy sitting outside at night, especially during these "cooler" Florida temperatures, you'll be able to see a special sight: April's pink moon.
➤ Micromoon and 'smiley face' visible in night sky this month. What to know and where to look
This month's full moon is also a micromoon and, being the first full moon since the spring equinox, plays an important role in determining when Easter will be.
So make your plans, find a place away from lights — put away your cell phone, too — sit back, and enjoy.
The moon on Friday, April 11, is in a waxing gibbous phase. It's 97% illuminated and almost at it's full moon phase, according to space.com.
Waxing gibbous means the moon is more than half illuminated by the sun. Waxing means the illuminated portion is growing, while gibbous refers to the shape, NASA explained.
April's full moon will be at 8:22 p.m. April 12 EDT.
The time of the full moon will be at 00:22 UTC on April 13, which is four hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time. The date is important since it determined when Easter will be.
Also known as the pink moon, there are a couple of other things to know about this month's full moon:
It's known as the pink moon
It will be a micromoon
The full moon in April is known as the pink moon after the pink flowers that bloom in spring, according to timeanddate.com.
Other names are breaking ice moon, budding moon, awakening moon, egg moon, and paschal moon.
After the full moon April 12-13, the next full moon will be the Flower Moon on May 12, according to astronomy.com.
Not quite. While the moon is about 97% illuminated, the moon won't be totally "full" until Saturday, April 12, or early Sunday, April 13 if you're looking at UTC time.
Can't see the graphic? Open in a new browser.
It may be a full moon, but April's full moon will come when it's at its farthest point from Earth in its orbit, making it a micromoon, according to Timeanddate.com.
A micromoon appears 5.9% to 6.9% smaller than an average full moon and 12.5% to 14.1% smaller than a supermoon, which happens when the full moon is at its closest point to Earth.
Easter's date is based on the lunar calendar. Easter comes on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox, which was on March 20 this year.
"Easter Sunday always occurs on the first Sunday after the paschal full moon, which is the first full moon that occurs on or after the March or spring equinox," according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.
The 2025 spring equinox fell on March 20 this year, and April 13, based on the UTC time, is the first full moon since the equinox, making April 20 the date to celebrate Easter.
On April 27, there will be a new supermoon, one of five in 2025. You won't be able to see it, though, according to EarthSky.
While the moon will be at its closest point to Earth, its orbit places it between the sun and Earth. The April 27 new supermoon will be the closest new supermoon in 2025, with the moon 221,917 miles from Earth, according to EarthSky.
The next new supermoon will be on May 27, with the moon 223,720 miles from Earth.
You'll have to wait a while to see the next full supermoon, and then there will be three in a row:
Oct 7: 224,599 miles
Nov 5: 221,817 miles; closest supermoon of the year
Dec 4: 221,965 miles
This year, the Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak April 21-22, but will be active from April 14-30.
During the peak time, a waning crescent moon won't rise until almost 4 a.m., according to astronomy.com. It may be best to view the meteor shower on the evening of April 21, just before the moon comes up.
"The Lyrids are expected to produce about 20 meteors per hour once the radiant is nearly overhead, which occurs in the hour before dawn. Expect lower rates in the earlier-morning hours," according to astronomy.com.
Under the best conditions, the Lyrids could produce up to 100 meteors per hour, according to NASA.
A crescent moon combines with Venus and Saturn for a "smiley face" in the sky.
See the face about 30 minutes before sunrise on April 25, according to timeanddate.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Full moon April 2025 a pink moon, micromoon. What that means
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The telescope is also considered the most effective way to spot any interstellar comets or asteroids that may travel through our solar system. The observatory's mirror design, sensitive camera and telescope speed are all the first of its kind, enabling Rubin to spot tiny, faint objects such as asteroids. The observatory will also constantly take thousands of images every night, cataloging changes in brightness to reveal otherwise hidden space rocks like near-Earth asteroids that could be on a collision course with our planet, according to the foundation. A sneak peek shared Monday includes a video made from over 1,100 images captured by the observatory that begins with a detailed look at two galaxies. The video then zooms out to showcase about 10 million galaxies spotted by the camera's wide view — roughly 0.05% of the 20 billion galaxies Rubin will observe over 10 years. The observatory team also released a mosaic of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae, which are star-forming regions that resemble clouds located in the Sagittarius constellation. The mosaic, made up of 678 separate images taken over just seven hours, captured faint and previously invisible details such as clouds of gas and dust in the nebulae, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth. The initial images were selected to showcase the telescope's enormous field of view, which enables detailed glimpses of interacting galaxies as well as broad views of millions of galaxies, said Dr. Yusra AlSayyad, deputy associate director of the data management subsystem for the Rubin Observatory. 'It has such a wide field of view and such a rapid cadence that you do have that movielike aspect to the night sky,' said Dr. Sandrine Thomas, telescope project scientist for the Rubin Observatory. 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The telescope's namesake, considered to be one of the most influential women astronomers, provided some of the first evidence that dark matter existed. In Rubin's honor, the telescope is expected to continue her pioneering work. 'Through this remarkable scientific facility, we will explore many cosmic mysteries, including the dark matter and dark energy that permeate the universe,' Stone said. Dark matter is an enigmatic substance that shapes the cosmos, while dark energy is a force that accelerates the expansion rate of the universe, according to NASA. Though they are thought to make up most of the cosmos, both are impossible to directly observe but can be detected due to their gravitational effects. 'Rubin has enormous potential to help us learn what dark energy really is and how the universe's expansion is accelerating here, too,' Roodman said. 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